Brookhaven: Pilot involved in PDK plane crash felt “rushed”

The pilot of a plane that ran off the runway of DeKalb Peachtree Airport in June said he felt “rushed” to land the plane, according to a report released by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The accident occurred June 18 and resulted in two serious injuries to passengers.

The NTSB report said the pilot, who was not identified, told safety officials he felt pressure to land his Hawker Beechcraft 400A because of a nearby Cessna that was also planning to land.

“The pilot-in-command (PIC) advised the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector-in-charge that the Cessna airplane was a distraction, and he felt rushed to land the airplane,” the report says. “He also reported that they used up 25 to 35 percent of the runway before touchdown, and after touchdown until coming to rest, the normal brakes were continuously applied, but the effectiveness was reported as being low. After coming to rest, the owner of the airplane who was a passenger yelled to him to secure the engines so they could evacuate the airplane. He secured the engines, and with the help of the airplane owner, evacuated the airplane then waited for help.”

Airport Director Mike Van Wie told Reporter Newspapers broadcast partner CBS Atlanta that the airport did everything it could to help the plane land safely.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On June 18, 2012, about 1006 eastern daylight time (EDT), a Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) 400A, N826JH, registered to and operated by N79TE LLC, rolled off the departure end of runway 20L then down an embankment during the landing roll at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK), Atlanta, Georgia. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 business flight from Northeast Alabama Regional Airport (GAD), Gadsden, Alabama. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the airline transport rated pilot and co-pilot sustained serious injuries, while the two passengers sustained minor injuries. The flight originated from GAD about 0841 hours central daylight time, or 0941 hours EDT.

According to preliminary air traffic control information (ATC), a flightcrew member of the HBC contacted the local controller advising that they were on the frequency. The local controller advised the flightcrew that a Cessna airplane was on a 5 mile final for runway 20R, was at 2,200 feet mean sea level (msl) indicated, and cleared the HBC airplane to land on runway 20L. A flightcrew member of the HBC airplane acknowledged the clearance to land on runway 20L. The local controller then contacted the pilot of the Cessna airplane that was on approach to runway 20R, and advised him of the distance, and location of the HBC airplane, then cleared the flight to land on runway 20R. The pilot of the Cessna airplane did not immediately respond, and the local controller again contacted the pilot of the Cessna airplane and relayed to him that the HBC airplane was on a right base to runway 20L, was at 2,700 feet indicated, and the distance and direction from his airplane. The local controller cleared the pilot of the Cessna airplane to land on runway 20R, and the pilot acknowledged the clearance, but reported he did not have the HBC airplane in sight. The local controller then established contact with the flightcrew of the HBC airplane, and advised them that the Cessna airplane was at 2,000 feet indicated altitude, 12 o’clock and 2.5 miles from their position. The flightcrew of the HBC responded that they were looking.

Further preliminary ATC information indicates that the local controller contacted the flightcrew of the HBC airplane and advised them to maintain present altitude and to advise if the Cessna was in sight; a flightcrew member advised negative contact with the Cessna airplane. The local controller advised the pilot of the Cessna that the HBC was a mile off his right side at 2,300 feet indicated; the pilot responded that he was looking for the traffic. A flightcrew member of the HBC airplane advised the controller that they were turning base to final for runway 20L, and the local controller asked if they had the Cessna airplane in sight, to which the reply was negative. The local controller advised the pilot of the Cessna airplane that the HBC airplane had flown over him, which the pilot of the Cessna airplane confirmed. The local controller then cleared the flightcrew of the HBC to land, which was acknowledged.

The pilot of the Cessna airplane that landed on runway 20R later reported observing the HBC fly over his airplane, and stated that the HBC airplane was in a steep descent to runway 20L after passing over his position.

The pilot-in-command (PIC) advised the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector-in-charge that the Cessna airplane was a distraction, and he felt rushed to land the airplane. He also reported that they used up 25 to 35 percent of the runway before touchdown, and after touchdown until coming to rest, the normal brakes were continuously applied, but the effectiveness was reported as being low. After coming to rest, the owner of the airplane who was a passenger yelled to him to secure the engines so they could evacuate the airplane. He secured the engines, and with the help of the airplane owner, evacuated the airplane then waited for help.

Witnesses reported to an inspector from the FAA that the HBC airplane appeared to be flying faster than normal on final approach, and several reported that the touchdown point was near or abeam the VOR antenna.

The airplane rolled off the departure end of runway 20L, down an embankment, and came to rest upright with the majority of the airplane on airport property, adjacent to the airport boundary fence.

According to the PDK airport director, runway 20L is a concrete grooved runway which has a published landing distance available (LDA) length of 4,801 feet. He also stated that the distance from the VOR antenna to the departure end of runway 20L is approximately 3,000 feet, and about 800 feet exist between the departure end of runway 20L, and the airport boundary fence.

A surface observation weather report taken at PDK at 0953, or about 13 minutes before the accident, indicates in part that the wind was variable at 3 knots.

The airplane was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR), and an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS), which were secured. The CVR was sent to the NTSB’s Recorders Laboratory located in Washington, D.C., while the EPGWS was sent to a NTSB Regional Office for downloading at the manufacturer’s facility.